Making the most of a media mention

We all love to see our name in lights – or, to be more exact, in the media, explaining what we or our business does. And there are lots of ways to achieve this – via PR, marketing, media introduction agencies and responding to appeals for case histories on Twitter or Facebook.

But once you’ve achieved that all-important publicity, how can you make the most of the opportunity?

Here are the steps you ought to take to make the most of your moment in the spotlight:

Get tweeting

Tweet a link to the article where you appear (or if it’s a radio or TV show, the segment) adding a trending hashtag (eg #MondayMotivation), thanking the media outlet/and or journalist involved via their Twitter handle. Add a picture or gif (find one on giphy.com), and don’t forget to retweet and interact with anyone who likes or shares your post.

Schedule a tweet for two days later with the hashtag #ICYMI & your link. Repeat another five days later with the link, saying: #stillcelebrating this great coverage…

Your tweets should be different. You could try one of these forms:

Post the article title and link

Use a question of fact to engage the audience

Start with an intriguing quote from the article.

Join Tweriod.com for analysis of the best time to tweet to your followers; click-through rates tend to be highest at weekends when people have more time to read.

Post on Facebook

Create an original post for Facebook linking to the article and the publication. Pin it to your page and it will remain there until you want to share some new news.

Don’t forget to share to all your FB groups and make the post public. Now’s a good time to check what groups you belong to – could you join a new local business group that’s relevant to what you do?

Why not also share the moment with a live video? Click Live Video at the top of your newsfeed to start.

Pick your time. Facebook engagement is 18% higher on Thursdays and Fridays according to a BuddyMedia study. Most studies indicate that the afternoon (experiment with the window between 1-4pm) is the best time to post. But if you click on the Insights tab on your own Facebook page, you’ll find when your customers typically engage with you most.

Share your status on LinkedIn

Put out a Shared Status update – Put a link to your content on your linkedin.com home page. Home page links are visible to all of your LinkedIn connections as Shared Status Updates on their linkedin.com home page view. If you have a nice excerpt of your post and a graphic, LinkedIn will even grab those items and display them in your upgrade. Best times are before and after work – hit the commuters.

Picture this

Instagram and/or Pinterest demands some good visuals – how about a selfie of you reading the article?

Then link to your story with lots of appropriate hashtags. Why not also add an offer or discount at the same time to drive more traffic? Late nights and Saturday mornings are great time to catch these readers.

Local Media

Email your local press to suggest they follow up the national story with a local angle – give them an idea / pics. It could be that your company is about to move into new premises, has connected with a local charity, or school. Or you may want to offer them an opinion piece on a relevant topic that has local appeal

Do your homework

Check the analytics afterwards. Which social media site has given you the best engagement? When were the posts/retweets viewed. You can then tailor future announcements to where your audience is most interested in what you do.